Fyxomatosis Colnago

There are those who object to the removal of gears a bicycle came with in order to create a single speed or a fixed gear, but there are also those who know how to do it right. Andy White is one such builder. If you’ve been following his blog, Fyxomatosis, long enough you’ll be aware of his fine taste in classic bikes and components. You’ll also know he isn’t afraid to mix styles up a little. In the wrong hands this could be a recipe for disaster, but thanks to his aesthetic perspective, each creation is something special.

This is his latest creation, an almost mint Colnago SLX frame adorned with a Shimano Dura Ace 7400 groupset. Normally I would be loathe to bear a bike mixing rice and pasta, but this bike was built strictly to a customer’s requisite. The brief was to put together a bike, which could be a single speed daily rider, solid and dependable enough to last a decade or more on the roads of the style-conscious Melbourne streets.

It’s hard to put a foot wrong with a frame like this, but it’s the details that count. There’s a Phil Wood bottom bracket in the shell, which has been proven over and again to be capable of vast distances. A White Industries freewheel is both elegant, virtually indestructible and will emit a reassuring mechanical purr. Those Dura Ace hubs have been laced to rock solid Mavic Open Pro rims, the decals of which Andy has cunningly replaced with Colnago rim labels from Cyclomondo (who also produced the faux-Columbus / Fyxomatosis decals).

In conclusion: another satisfied Fyxomatosis customer. Have a look at Andy’s website for more examples of his builds, photography and a delicious recipe for carrot cake. You can see more detail shots of his Colnago Bici con Dura Ace on the Fyx flickr.

The bike is gorgeous, but I disagree with the use of Shimano components.

michael hunt

Once you go Jap, you don’t go back!

Andrew Rose

Very tastefully done.

Jay

I will disagree with the disagree-er. The look of the groupo on this particular is fitting. I think the flat crank where it needs to look flat, the curves of the calipers where they need that curve…ahhh… perfection!

mark

Now just think how good this bike could look with gears! Even though this one looks good, conversions still just don’t seem “right” to me.

Denny

It’s a nice picture of a nice frame, but nothing special or different from a thousand other ‘fixed gear conversions’. We’ve seen amazing builds from Andy but this is not one of them.